Schuldig
by Shiva Darkwater
Summary: Nowhere to run... Nowhere to hide... Nowhere to go... No one to trust... No one to love... (AU, BradSchu) *Chapter 1 up!*
1. Prologue

**Author:**Shiva Darkwater | **Fandom:** Weiss Kreuz | **Rating:** PG-13 | **Summary:**Nowhere to run... Nowhere to hide... Nowhere to go... No one to trust... No one to love... | **Status:** Prologue | **Email:** melancholy@sunrise-sunset.com | **Disclaimer:** No copyrights were harmed in the making of this fic. | **Warnings:** BradxSchuxBrad, m/m relationships, AU, angst. Also includes manga hair/eye colors. | **Strategy:** Stupid Schu started plaguing my mind. I've always wanted to write a fic of him that made sense of my view of him. | **Author's notes:** Uncreative title, I know… The whole idea came of this came to me while playing _Legend of Dragoon_ in the cathedral where this crowd keeps saying guilty over and over again.

**Schuldig******

"Guilty… guilty… guilty… guilty… guilty… guilty…" 

_"Guilty… guilty… guilty… guilty… guilty…"_

_"Guilty… guilty… guilty…guilty!"_

The young teen shuddered as the accusations reached him. Hands were clasped to his ears to stop the flood of voices… monotonous and all declaring the same thing. He kneeled on the wooden floor in the small cathedral, his jeans stained with caked on blood and grass stains. His white t-shirt was ripped and one sleeve was missing. His feet were bare and cut.

A tortured cry left his swollen and bloodied lips, tears falling from his dulled golden eyes. His dyed, jade colored hair was darkened in spots by blood and dirt, clumps plastered to his forehead and hiding his shaking shoulders. Convulsing, the green-haired teen arched his neck and raised his eyes upwards, fingers tugging on his hair. It wasn't fair. He didn't mean to do it!

Screaming, the teenager coughed, a trail of blood making its way down his chin and his body writhed until it fell with a thud on the hard floor. The only thing that cushioned his fall was the thin red carpet laid out between the pews. "Shut up! Please! Just shut the fuck up!"

"Guilty…guilty!" 

The seventeen year old squirmed, the lids of his eyes shut tightly over his eyes. His hand's remained securely covering his ears, but it didn't help him to escape the voices. The voices would never stop… They came from within, and nothing he did could make them stop.

Blackness consumed his mind, followed by the fiery pits of hell. He was guilty and now it was time to pay for his sins. The seventeen year old almost welcomed the fire and the writhing body laying in the cathedral slowly ceased into stillness…

_"Guilty… guilty… guilty… guilty…guilty… guilty…"_

The voices gradually slipped away into nothingness as silence took over his mind for the first time in his life… and he slept.


	2. Chapter One

**Author:**Shiva Darkwater | **Fandom:** Weiss Kreuz | **Rating:** PG-13 | **Summary:**Nowhere to run... Nowhere to hide... Nowhere to go... No one to trust... No one to love... | **Email:** melancholy@sunrise-sunset.com | **Disclaimer:** Weiß Kreuz does not belong to me in anyway; I just wish I owned them all…| **Warnings:** BradxSchuxBrad, m/m relationships, AU, angst. Also includes manga hair/eye colors. | **Strategy:** Stupid Schu started plaguing my mind. I've always wanted to write a fic of him that made sense of my view of him. | **Author's notes:** Wow! I got seven reviews! I totally wasn't expecting that! Thank you! *hugs and kisses all her nice reviewers* I love you all! Well! I finally updated! Yup, I didn't give up yet! ^^ I hope you like the first chapter! I know I rarely update… congratulate me! ^^ Wow… isn't this a great title for a story? But it works so well! Thank you everyone who's gotten me into writing this again! The prologue was just a little teaser but lots of people seemed to want more… so more I gave! Um… thank you all of my reviewers! I hope I can meet your high standards!

**Schuldig****:** **Chapter One**

He could faintly smell coffee brewing in the distance… Coffee and cinnamon… and lilacs… Gold eyes slowly drifted open as the scents assaulted his nose. His body tumbled in the sheets and his legs reflexively kicked out. The slender body sat up and the white bed sheets slipped off of the mattress and lay rumpled on the carpeted floor.

The green-haired teen sat there, confusion written in his dazed gold eyes. Something wasn't right… this wasn't his home… He didn't have a home… And what happened to his pants? The teen gazed down at himself, the white T-shirt still bloodied and torn… hitched up to his stomach during his fitful sleep.

Curious as to whose house this was, the seventeen-year-old slid off the bed, running a hand through his dirty, tangled jade locks and idly pulled down the hem of his cotton T-shirt before trying to stand on wobbly legs. Pain shot through his body and he collapsed suddenly back down onto the mattress, a groan expelling his throat.

"I'd be careful if I were you…" A voice came from the adjacent room and the boy looked up, one eye shut from the pain. "You're a real mess. You know that, don't you?" A young man entered the bedroom, midnight blue eyes carefully studying the teen with an odd shade of green hair. "What you were doing in that cathedral heaven only knows… What's your name kid?"

Gold eyes looked startled, gazing over the stranger as if to check for any threat the man might have. Finding none, the teen sighed. "Schuldig…" he murmured, a voice returning to his head which he couldn't place; his eyes gazing down to watch his barefoot trace a design on the hardwood floor. "Where are my pants?"

Blue eyes turned from the teen and the man started to head back towards the kitchen. "In the trash. That shirt was the only thing salvageable. I made breakfast so eat up." With that, the black-haired man disappeared around a corner.

What was with this guy? Schuldig watched the man leave through narrowed eyes. It wasn't like he asked the guy to save him. So why did he sound like the green-haired teen should be honoured that he was still alive; and saved by him no less?

When he made his way out for breakfast, hazel eyes caught the look his rescuer gave him out of the corner of his eye. He paid it no heed and sat at the small table in just the white shirt. "See something you like?" he sneered quietly, loud enough for the man to hear.

"On the contrary… you look disgusting," was the reply. Blue eyes flickered over the boy once again. "After you eat go take a shower or something. You're filthy." The man's nose wrinkled slightly with distaste.

Schuldig snorted. "Who says you can boss me around? I never asked some anal-retentive jackass to pick me up. Who knows what you could have done to me while I was unconscious!" Golden eyes glared rebelliously over the table and straight into those midnight dark eyes.

Dark eyes rolled behind silver-framed glasses. "You sure seem to argue a lot for someone who nearly died; surprising." The man drank from his navy coffee cup calmly. "I'm not here to start a fight with you, so shut up."

Strangely enough, the teen did. Watching his rescuer for a moment longer, Schuldig went back to eating the perfectly prepared scrambled eggs, which he drowned in ketchup. The rest of the meal was spent in silence, the man reading from the newspaper, the teen eating quietly and occasionally drinking from his glass of milk.

When done, Schuldig rose from the table, glancing around. Realising the boy was lost, the dark-haired man set down his paper. "The bathroom is down the hall. Go tidy yourself up."

Golden eyes glanced at the man once more before nodding and headed down the hallway. Geeze… what was his problem? Schuldig scowled and slammed the door behind him, leaning back against the wooden door of the bathroom. Everything in this apartment was pristine and in its place; it made him sick. Even that guy was as cold and perfect as a block of ice.

Blowing locks of green hair out of his eyes, he gazed at himself in the mirror above the sink. Hell… he really did look like hell. Blood was caught under his fingernails and scratch marks traced their way down his thighs and arms. The blood had dried but a lot still clung to his hair. He was used to being in this kind of mess; the scary part was he couldn't remember any of it. What had happened the previous night to get him into this?

Schuldig's mind drew up a blank. Where was Yohji? Why hadn't he stopped him from doing whatever had happened? The teen's head hurt from thinking too much. It was obvious that last night wouldn't come back to him. "Yohji…" His best friend wouldn't be too worried about him not showing up this morning, but it would be best to call anyway. At least it would get him away from the Ice Prince.

He was about to open the door to leave the bathroom and ask for a phone when Schuldig heard two voices. One was his rescuer… but who was the other? Some unknown part inside of him awoke again and his mind seemed to tune into thoughts that weren't his. A memory of the night before flashed in his mind and his hazel eyes widened. The man… was a fed…

Poking his head out of the bathroom a little, gold eyes saw the navy uniform on a red-haired man and he was talking to the man that saved him. Schuldig hid back in the bathroom. Why was a cop here? Had they followed him? The seventeen-year-old wasn't the best of friends with the police force. The previous run-ins he had with them warned him that it wasn't in his best interests to be caught again.

He could hear the two's conversation from his hiding spot and paid close attention. Where the two friends? Was his rescuer a fed too? Did he call him in? Were they waiting for him to come out of the bathroom? Schuldig desperately wished for Yohji; he always kept a cool hand under pressure where Schu had a tendency to snap and get them in bigger trouble.

From the conversation he gathered the cop's name was Fujimiya Ran and was assigned to a homicide that took place last night in a cathedral. Four people were found dead inside. "Four people… I wonder what happened…" Schuldig thought aloud, meanwhile washing the blood out of his hair in the sink, pinkish liquid slipping down the drain. It was kind of hard to get all of his hair under the tap at the same time but he managed.

"Crawford, I'm just asking because you live in the area." Ran spoke up and the clink of porcelain on wood came after.

So his rescuer's name was Crawford. He mused on this with a smile while now drying his clean, jade colored hair. He heard Crawford's voice respond, "I haven't been near the cathedral, why would I have been? I don't know the boy you're looking for so stop asking."

"Who's in the bathroom?"

Schu froze at that question. The police were after him after all. But the apartment was too high up to climb out the window, unless he really did want to die. Praying silently that Crawford would save him; none came. Instead he heard a "Come out of there, Schuldig" and he submitted to his fate, cursing his rescuer all the way. The dark-haired man had to be a spy.

Slowly, still cursing Crawford, Schuldig headed back to the living room where Ran and Crawford sat. The dark-haired man still had his coffee and paper and the redhead was gazing at him with piercing, curious violet eyes. Crawford motioned for the teen to sit with them. "Merely just a whore I found at a street corner. I thought I'd invite him back for a warm place to sleep and some real food."

The green-haired boy's mouth was open, ready to protest until he realised that Ran was buying that story. Judging from the way Schuldig was dressed it wasn't really that hard to believe. "How old are you boy?" Golden eyes widened, "Ah… Eighteen sir…" he lied. He wouldn't be eighteen for another year but knew it was illegal for minors to sell their bodies like that.

Ran nodded and left him alone. "I see… You've always had strange taste Crawford." He shook his head a little, glancing at Schu once again, noticing the green hair. "Strange shade… Well… I'd better return to patrol. Take care Crawford, your dedication to the team is highly missed."

Crawford shrugged, returning to his paper. "I'll die a rich man however… Take care of yourself." The red-haired man nodded and let himself out of the apartment. "What's with the look?"

"You're a pig…" Schuldig pouted.

Midnight blue eyes looked rather incredulous at what he had thought he had heard. "Wh-what did you just call me?" 

He sighed, "a pig. Y'know, a cop." Gold eyes gazed over at Crawford feeling betrayed. Sure, he hadn't trusted the guy, but he never knew that his rescuer was a cop.

It was Crawford's turn to sigh, shaking his head. "I used to be a police officer, yes. But I'm not anymore." He took another drink from his mug. "You have nothing to fear from me if you're having problems with the police." Returning to his old self, the man gestured back to the bedroom. "I left some clean clothes out for you, you may want to put something on."

"I have to call Yohji," the teen answered. "Ah… he's a friend of mine that I live with… can I call him so he can pick me up…?" Schuldig headed back into the bedroom to find the bed freshly made up and a pile of clothes on the sheets. They were going to be a little big. He pulled the jeans on but even all buttoned up they barely stayed on his hips. Keeping his white shirt on, he headed back out to the living room. "This is all I need, thanks."

Once again he felt dark blue eyes on his body, and he couldn't help but shift under the gaze. "The phone's on the table." 

Schuldig nodded and picked up the phone, dialling Yohji's number only to get the answering machine. "If you've got money and are hot, say so and I promise to call back. If you're not, get lost."

"Yohji? Pick up!"

He heard a click and his best friend's voice was immediately on the other end of the wire. "Schu? Where are you?"

Schuldig could hear the concern in Yohji's voice. "Don't worry I'm okay… Someone picked me up last night but I'm fine. Just, come pick me up, okay?" Crawford helped supply him with the address and Yohji promised to come by and pick him up as soon as fucking possible.

"Thanks." He said it to Crawford when he was ready to leave. He wasn't really sure what to say, they knew each other so briefly and it wasn't like his other customers. Yet, trying to say goodbye was really hard.

"Hn…" Crawford replied, not even bothering to look at the green-haired teenager.

Schuldig glanced down at the floor. "Well… Yohji's here… so… see you around." He stumbled over the words a little before opening the front door and running out of the apartment building to meet his friend. Why was that so hard? It wasn't like they'd ever see each other again or that he really cared to see that guy again. But some part of his mind brought up a picture of Crawford gazing at the shut door with a little touch of emotion hiding in those dark eyes.


End file.
